After the War
by sundayswithgale
Summary: A series of drabbles about our favorite characters, in moments where they thank the Spirits that the war is over. Inspired by 'In Our Bedroom After the War' by Stars. Enjoy!


**Disclaimer:** I don't own A:TLA or Legend of Korra.

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Best read while listening to this: watch?v=Z-K05oBku10

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Aang somehow found himself looking at Katara at night, sometimes. While they rode Appa, and she slept on the saddle. While she slept, she looked the most peaceful. Sometimes, she held onto her necklace and sometimes she shivered. Under the cold. When the moonlight hit her hair, Aang couldn't help but feel his heart beat with a faster pace, and all he could do was thank the Spirits for giving him the opportunity to feel this.

He found himself thinking of her a lot. Well, even before the end of the war. But now...she was all he could keep his mind on. When she kissed him, held his hand, teased him...Aang couldn't help but think that this was what Roku had meant when he talked about 'true love finding a way'. The war was over. There was peace. And Katara, the only thing that kept him connected to the physical world, was finally at peace.

Aang had lost everything when he was twelve years old. His nation, his friends, his people. His world. He had lost it all, and out of nowhere, this girl appeared. This girl, that he felt connected to. He felt that he was in debt to her, and suddenly, his feelings for her increased with everything she did for him. Unlike how he had left his world for his own selfish reasons, she had left her world in order to save the entirety of it. That was why Aang, himself, began to admire her...and become more and more fond of their relationship.

Steadily, she opened her eyes as the sun rose. Her own found Aang, and with a gentle pat to the spot next to her, she invited him to join her.

"Appa, keep flying steady, buddy," he told his flying bison as he climbed back on the saddle. His hands found hers, and his lips found her finger tips.

"The war is over," she whispered to him with a small smile on her face. And he nodded, a goofy smile as well. "And we're together."

"And we'll be together for a long time," he assured her, before stealing a kiss.

* * *

Zuko sat at the balcony of the palace.

Alone.

His nation was at peace, and he hoped it would be at peace for a lot longer. He gripped the wooden red railing in front of him, and watched as the sun rose. The birds were singing once more, as if they hadn't sang in a long time. The world was happy once more, there was balance, and it was a new beginning. For everyone.

Mai wasn't talking to him.

With the peace that surrounded him, the beauty that ignited the skies and the surroundings of his people, he couldn't help but feel...a certain type of sadness.

While his people experienced the peace he had fought so hard to gain, he wasn't at peace with himself. He knew what he had done, he knew what had made her angry. If she was angry. He didn't truly know how she felt.

"Zuko, what are you doing?" Mai asked quietly, her arms crossed as she entered the balcony. Her usually unemotional face was painted with some worry. Zuko, at the sound of her voice, turned around quickly...and a smile grew on his face.

"I thought you were angry at me."

"I am, Zuko. But there are worse things in life," she reminded him and went over to him, pulling him to her by the cloth of his top. "Atleast, the war is over."

And Fire Lord Zuko smiled.

"Yes, the war is over," he agreed with her and dipped in to kiss her.

* * *

Toph Beifong sat in the Earth Kingdom, by herself, for the first time in months. The Metalbending school was going great. But, it didn't stop the feeling that she was alone. At thirteen, she was alone in the world. Her friends had gone on their own adventures, leaving her to live out her own dream.

Her dream involved them.

She heard them, the birds singing. They reminded her of when she lived with her parents. Her father used to sit her on her lap, and tell her about all the birds. She remembered him trying to describe the colors to her, and failing miserably at doing so. She remembered her mother letting her paint her face, and laughing. Suddenly, those times didn't seem so bad to Toph.

Atleast she wasn't alone.

Toph felt stupid tears fill her eyes. _Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! _She thought to herself and quickly wiped them, brushing her hair out of her eyes and resting her head on her chin. Toph was alone, now. She had left the only world she knew for them, the only type of world she had lived, and now she was alone.

Toph always tried to be independent, and she was! She could be! She could take care of herself, no matter what! But...

"Loneliness is different from being independent with friends," she whispered to herself. She took off her meteorite bracelet and held it in her hands. She ran her hands over it, and squeezed it. She smiled at the shapes, albeit slightly. A boomerang. A glider. A watertribe insignia. Sokka, Aang, Katara. Her friends. The people who showed her the world.

But Toph also remembered learning about the world, the war, and never truly experiencing it. A world that was kept from her because she couldn't 'see it'. And she remembered why she left, why she had to leave them. The anger, the pain she felt. The creations of her own dreams. A dream filled with pupils, of teaching, and spreading a new type of knowledge to the world.

She was going to show them that she wasn't to be kept hidden. She was going to be the Master, and she was going to be the one to teach them all, that just because she couldn't see, that she couldn't live either.

Toph had lost it all, but she gained so much more.

She gained _the world_.

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Sokka would sometimes sit with his new sword, a normal sword, and as he would sharpen it, he would think of the times he spent with his space sword...it was the sword that had made so many memories with his friends. His sword had saved him so many times. The Space Sword was, to Sokka, an invincible thing. When he had made it, he had always promised to himself that he wouldn't lose it.

He threw it away without hesitations, for a friend.

His friends were everything. Through his friendship with the Avatar, he had met Suki, he had helped his people. He had brought peace to the world. He had become the warrior he had always wanted to be, the warrior his village had needed so many years before.

Sokka, in this era of peace, now felt useless.

Even his girlfriend, Suki, was doing something for the world. She was acting as a protector of peace, going wherever there was disruption to bring stability between both sides. She was always successful, whether it was by force, or by talking. The Kyoshi Warriors had also learned from the Avatar, like so many who knew him had learned to do.

Sokka didn't even need to lead his people anymore. His father, Hakoda, was there to do that.

And so he sat there, pondering on what to do next with his life. He held his sword, like he used to when thinking about a plan. Sokka had a decision to make. His home in the South Pole didn't feel like a home anymore. In fact, he had grown out of it. It was far too small for Sokka's comfort. He needed a breath of fresh air. A new place to see.

With that thought, Sokka stood up. He held his sword by his hilt confidently, smiled to himself, and put it back in his sword belt. He took a deep breath, and ran back towards the igloo he and his father now shared.

"Dad, I've been thinking about your offer about representing the Southern Water Tribe in Republic City..."

* * *

Azula would often sit outside during the rain, much to her nurses' impatience. She found herself outside in the thunder, and the lightning most of the time. She would feel the rain hit her face, her skin, her hands, and she would take it in.

She would wait forever for the lightning to strike her once more.

She missed the feeling of adrenaline rushing through the whole of her body. She wanted the feeling of it spreading through every crevice of her body, giving her a surge of power and energy, like she had always craved for before.

But these days, the lightning clouds were gone. It was only a drizzle, like a static that fuddled her brain. She wasn't the prodigy, power hungry Princess anymore. She wasn't feared, nor could she instill it like she had before.

Azula was forever stuck as the image of a mad girl, torn by her loyalty and inability to forgive. Azula scoffed at that thought. Like any child, she had only shown loyalty to the only person who showed her affection: the Fire Lord. She had given up a normal childhood to be his perfect daughter. She had given up her only friends in order to not betray him. She had given up her mother, who she still held a grudge over.

Azula could never forgive and forget; she would never be able to forget. All her life should have been forgiven. She was going to be forgotten, either way.

"Princess Azula, would you like some Fire Flakes?" the orderly asked, standing behind Azula under some coverage. Azula raised her hands, feeling the rain splatter against her skin. She always knew that the rain would be her doom. Lightning and rain were always opposites, in her eyes.

"Do not address me as the Princess. I am far from that now," Azula said, her voice softer than it had ever been before. "Though I would enjoy some."

"Ika," said another orderly, opening the exit to the garden, referring to Azula's nurse. "The Princess's usual visitors are here to see her."

"Tell Ursa and Fire Lord Zuko that we will be with them soon," Ika replied. Azula smiled softly to herself.

"Mother and Zuzu are finally coming to say hello."


End file.
